30/08/2010

This past week, after wasting my time playing videogames because I'm lazy and procrastinating, I actually kept working on Harmonia Warders.. I have some updates to post and a few screenshots (nothing spectacular) with what I've done so far.

I was able to add the HUD menu in game, it is the basic and normal menu that every jRPG has with status, items, equips etc etc. So far it doesn't look good because I will actually have to put real graphics and not placehorders, however it is functional and very versatile...

As you can see from these screenshots, these are the actual main characters of the game but I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it yet.. Due to a particular story gimmick in the game, you can't have more than 3 characters at the same time in battle and you can switch them with each other only in particular pairs. For example, Michael can be exchanged with Viviane only, Mint with Katie and Jack with Oberon. I know it sounds stupid but, in my opinion, it actually works best this way and the combat will be even more dynamic. Alas, I won't say more anyhow.

Another nice fix I put in the game is the battle system, even though it still lacks monster AI, I was able to put more than one character in battle, switching their order in the menu and make them fight against the monsters.

Now I'm either going to work on the full menu (all the options and entries) or perfect and finish the battle engine (with monster exp, full skill choice and monster AI). Either way, the game is really going well and I'm satisfied with what I've done so far, I hope to be able to keep the ball rolling...

20/08/2010

I am glad to say that today I was finally able to fully add the portal feature in my game. No no, nothing groundbreaking and nothing taken from the famous videogame. It just mean I was able to transition from one map to another and viceversa. Basically I just added the door functionality in my RPG which is something awesome, at least in my opinion, because since it got integrated in the editor (v2.1 now, lots of bugs fixed) it is really easy (and fun) to make maps linked to each other.

After testing and rejoying over my small but big success, I started jotting down the basis of my HUD and game menu. It will be a classical menu à-la Final Fantasy with normal party information, player status and stuff like that. Now I just created the class and tomorrow I'll probably try to fill it in and make it work with some nice placeholder graphics, who knows.

Also I will have to add a new video of the Tile Editor because I'm actually proud of it. I just fear the time when I will have to complete all its functionalities... Meh, I'm not good at this job, I should probably go work at McDonald's...

19/08/2010

Hello my readers..
Today, after days of mindlessly drawing, reading tutorials on how to draw, and getting used to my tablet, I was finally able to come up with a result that I would consider pretty good for my abilities... It's still not perfect, but it's closer to what I imagined the finished product would be.

I'm going to post here the concept art I drew these last days and you can clearly see its evolution (Actually attempt #2 is better than some other attempts..). This was really helpful to me, cause now I am able to draw Viviane's face without having to follow a tutorial step by step, watch a youtube video on how to draw eyes (Those eyes.. ugh, I hate it) and I am able to draw different expressions while still giving the same resemblance to the face... which is something not easy to do.

On a more serious note, about programming... I am glad to say that I was able to introduce multitasking in my Event engine and now I am able to run more than one scripted event at the same time (provided they don't conflict with each other). For example I can move a character somewhere while another character changes position and another one changes animation. This is really useful if I want to get some cool fighting scenes or dramatic entries (which will happen).

Now I am working on adding a portal feature to my maps, which is basically a door/teleport tile that allows me to load another map when the character steps on it. In theory it's actually pretty easy, but it's more harder than it looks because I have to completely re-write the TileMap class to incapsulate all the informations needed for the new maps as well (like NPCs, Events etc etc). So far I've almost finished the TileEditor for those portals which did give me some troubles... It's currently at version 2.0 and it's no-where close to the end. I will have to add NPC support, treasure boxes, event adding (not event editor... that's already completed) and something more maybe (like support for multiple forelayers or moving sprites like water tiles).

This was a nice update and I'm pretty satisfied of what I've done. Probably next time the portal feature will be up and working, who knows? Let's keep our fingers crossed.

17/08/2010

I spent the past two weeks working on the concept art for the game, getting down the plot, scenarios, dialogues (actually, just the characters...). Also, I bought a Wacom Tablet (Bamboo Pen, always wanted one) even though I don't know how to draw, so I'll learn and be able to draw the art for this game myself...

I will obviously get some help from the outside, but this is my project and I will get it done.

After working with guides on how to draw (yeah, I'm THAT bad at drawing) I got some improvement and I was able to get on the paper (on the screen actually) my first personal concept art for Viviane.. It's not the best but looking back at my improvements, I've already done a lot from stick figures..

I still have to fix the eyes and the personality.. add shades and everything but as a first try I guess it passes...

11/08/2010

Good day followers... I'm back in action and ready to go on with my quest to program this RPG.

No, I haven't abandoned the project, I know I keep doing this it's just my way of dealing with things... especially since the game is just a hobby and real life stuff always comes first..

Also I've been quite involved in a few other stuff (like 2 jobs and university exams) that took away most of my time. I got back into gaming with some games I had missed from the past 6 months and I had some catching up to do. Right now, though, I'm back in action (God only knows for how long..) and I'm planning to completely write down the whole story and dialogues before going on, I want (and need) something to work on since the basic engine is going on steadily and it is pretty stable already. I want to get something done because I don't want this to become an abandoned project yet.

I will release it, I swear to myself! Since one of my troubles was looking for a graphic artist I've opted for the cheap option I had.. I'm going to buy a tablet and try to work some of the arts myself. I know a few people who can help me out and give me hints and I'm not bad at pixel arts already (been doing the sprites so far..), I hope I can manage this.

Lastly, I hope I still have some followers or just people who wander on and off this blog, because I won't disappoint you guys, I will get this project done one day... and that will be the best day of my life probably.